Worth the Wait
by Scottish Hobbit
Summary: After a painful ending to her engagement, Diamond decided the only way to keep from getting hurt once more was to refrain from feeling so deeply for anyone again-that is, until she met Peregrin Took, and her feelings began to shape a course of their own.
1. Tainted Love

**Hey everyone. This is my second story, even though I'm not very far into my first. However, I find that the quality of my writing declines seriously if I focus on just one story; if I have a choice of which to work on, then I seem to do better. So I decided to begin another -- this one, about Pippin and Diamond, another hobbit couple I adore. Hope you all enjoy =)**

**-Chapter One-**

**_Tainted Love_**

Diamond of Long Cleeve stormed angrily through her front door, in her sightless rage completely trampling a few meager daisies that had just recently poked through the soft soil outside the house. 

"Diamond?" her mother called from a room near the back of the house as the front door slammed. Diamond didn't answer; half blinded by tears that welled in her eyes, she stumbled towards her room, refusing to let the tears fall freely until safely behind her closed door. 

She wept silently, sprawled across her bed, her tears coursing in abundance and leaving wet trails upon her cheeks, which were bright pink from the strong emotions gushing through her body. Pounding her fists repeatedly upon a pillow, she found that it helped to keep her anger under control, although all her grief could not possibly be expressed. Finally, feeling quite exhausted and utterly horrible, her tears stopped flowing and in their place she acquired a hollow emptiness. She rolled upon her back, clutching her pillow tightly to her body as though holding it would make all her bad feelings go away.

The warm spring sunshine drifted through the window and warmed the room. While the weather was uplifting and pleasing to most, to Diamond it seemed to contrast sharply with her current mood, making her all the more upset. Her anger seemed to melt away and she longed to cry again; to cry and cry until she had cried all her feelings from her body and was left with nothing, but the tears would not come over again. It seemed she had spent them already.

A soft knock sounded upon the door, and before Diamond had time to respond, it was pushed slowly open. Her sister Prisca's head was revealed peeking around the door, a soft smile gracing her slender face. "Can I come in?" she asked, although without waiting for an answer, she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Coming over to sit upon the edge of Diamond's bed, she reached over and laid her hand across Diamond's own. Diamond took no heed of her.

"Mother said she thought she heard you come in not long ago," Prisca said lightly, as though nothing was out of the ordinary. "I thought I'd come to see if it was you."

Diamond muttered a few things incoherently, and Prisca smiled slightly, her large amber eyes timidly watching Diamond. She took in Diamond's puffy red eyes and disheveled appearance without a word. Idly, she played with one of Diamond's auburn curls, twisting it around a finger before patting it neatly back into place. 

"Weren't you going to see Nob today?" Prisca asked gently then. Diamond swallowed and said nothing, though the tears that she had thought had abandoned her earlier made their appearance once more. Prisca soothingly wiped the wetness from her sister's cheek, squeezing her hand reassuringly. 

"I was going to surprise him," Diamond mumbled through her tears. "Nob, that is. I was going to surprise him with a visit."

"Aye, you were. What happened?" Prisca asked softly.

Diamond shook her head lightly, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "I don't want to talk about it," she whispered. "At least, not at the moment." She shut her eyes, drawing her pillow up over her head as if in hope to block out the entire world. Her pain was too fresh; she had been cut too deep. She didn't have the words to describe what had happened.

Prisca patted Diamond's hand and then withdrew her own. "Perhaps later, then?" she asked. She pulled the pillow away from Diamond's face. "Whatever happened today, we will sort it out," she promised, staring down at her sister's tear-streaked face. Diamond nodded wretchedly.

Prisca didn't leave right away, but instead lay next to Diamond and rubbed her back soothingly. Diamond was silent, clutching her pillow as though her life depended on it, giving Prisca her own time to think. She watched her younger sister's sides rise and fall with each shuddering breath she took, and her heart felt for the lass. Diamond didn't let a lot of things faze her, so what had happened to make her so upset couldn't be all too decent. Though, she and Nob had been together for quite a while, and their wedding was only a mere few weeks ago... perhaps it had just been a fight, and the fight had scared Diamond.

Prisca sighed. It had seemed like her sister and Nob had been perfect for each other from the first time they met -- at a party a few years before. From the start their conversations had flowed smoothly, their times together had been memorable and enjoyable, and they fit the picture; two decent hobbits who made a fine pair. It wasn't long after that that the two officially became a couple, and it was only five months previous to this very date that Nob had proposed. Since then, all of Diamond's family had been quite busy making preparations, and Diamond had never seemed happier as she bounced about, a large smile constantly stretched across her features.

_We'll get this sorted out, _Prisca thought resolutely, suddenly desperate to get her sister's happiness back, her thoughts echoing the words she had spoken to Diamond. 

Diamond was currently lost in her own feelings. The tears drying on her cheeks and at the corner of her eyes felt cool and somewhat refreshing, as did the slight breeze that played in through the parted window. She listened to her younger cousins running about, yelling and shouting as they engaged in countless games with each other. More than anything at the moment, she longed to be that age again and that carefree. Children simply didn't have to worry about the problems she had now.

"I wish I was young again," she spoke aloud, voicing her thoughts at last. Prisca was surprised by her voice. She propped herself up on her elbow and glanced down curiously at Diamond.

"You are young, Di," she assured her. "You've got another year yet until you're thirty-three, and that's plenty of time..."

"Not young enough to climb trees again," she said despondently. "Not young enough to spend the afternoon fishing, and have my only worry being what was for supper. Not young enough to be able to spend hours doing nothing but wandering aimlessly."

Prisca sighed and rested her chin on Diamond's head. "Is that what you want?"

"Yes," Diamond said with a hint of a whimper in her tone, and Prisca grinned at how childlike Diamond suddenly sounded. Feeling that Diamond was a bit better, Prisca decided to try her luck.

"Do you want to tell me what happened with Nob?"

Instead of dissolving once more into tears like Prisca half expected, Diamond sighed and rolled upon her stomach. She watched Prisca silently a moment.

"What would you say if I told you the wedding was off, Pris?" she asked then. Prisca opened her mouth as if to say something, closed it, and then opened it again.

"I'd tell you not to joke around like that, because someone might hear you, and think of the uproar that would cause!"

Diamond glanced down at the quilt on her bed and was silent. Prisca watched her nervously.

"Diamond?" she asked slowly.

"Prisca, the wedding is off," Diamond said tonelessly, and raised her gaze to Prisca's. Prisca was startled to see her eyes glistening over as tears formed once more.

"What?" she gasped. "Diamond... why?"

"We had a... disagreement," Diamond said and rolled back onto her side so her back was towards Prisca. 

"And that's it?" Prisca demanded. "You got in one fight, and it's all over?" she took a deep breath. "Di," she said, trying to control the rush of emotions she suddenly felt. "You were so happy with Nob, and you two are..."

"...perfect for each other, yes, I've heard it before!" Diamond said angrily. She turned back around sharply, eyes no longer holding sorrow but now obvious annoyance and a twinge of anger. "That's what everyone says."

"Well, it's true, is it not?"

"I don't know," Diamond sighed, the anger dropping out of her tone once more. "The wedding is off, Prisca. That's all there is to it."

Prisca said nothing for a while as she tried to absorb what she was hearing. Instead of her thoughts taking course, however, she found herself listening to everything and nothing at once as though she had never heard the sounds before; the laughter of the children, the songs of the birds, the wind rustling through leaves, Diamond's gentle breathing... "What was the fight about?" she asked at last. Diamond shrugged.

"Nothing much," she responded slowly. "We just realized that it wouldn't work, I suppose. Or rather, I did."

Prisca held her sister's gaze a moment, and in an instant knew this wasn't the whole truth. That alone wouldn't have caused Diamond as much anger and grief as it had. She didn't question Diamond, further, however. Her main priority was to see her sister happy again, and obviously this talk about her relationship with Nob was not about to do it. As much as Prisca wanted to find out everything that was going through her sister's head right this second, they could wait to talk more about the foiled wedding later -- now Diamond needed to forget about it for a while.

Prisca stood rapidly, staring down at Diamond who still lay on the bed and cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Well then you know what we must do?" Prisca demanded hurriedly. Diamond shook her head.

"No, what?"

"Get up, and brush your hair and wash your face. You can't go out like that. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to be seen with you."

Problems momentarily forgotten, Diamond eyed her sister suspiciously at the abrupt change of subject. "Where are we going?"

Prisca laughed and opened the door to Diamond's room. "We're going to fish, and then we're going to climb trees, and then we're going to giggle like little children and spend the rest of the day running around aimlessly, while we worry about what's for supper." She paused and glanced at Diamond sternly. "Be ready in ten minutes, or else I'll leave without you," she threatened and disappeared into the hall, shutting the door behind her.


	2. A Day Well Spent

**-Chapter Two-**

**_A Day Well Spent_**

"Today has been a good day," Diamond said with a content smile upon her face. She lay upon the bank of a river, feet stretched out so they just touched the water that lapped onto shore. She listened comfortably to the gurgling of the water as it rushed past, enjoying the feel of the warm sunrays stroking her face as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. A basket rest nearby, filled with numerous fish that had earlier been caught. 

"It has, hasn't it?" Prisca asked from her left. Diamond said nothing, but no words were needed. Both lasses fell silent, relishing their day -- or, in Diamond's case, her day starting from the point she and Prisca left the house hours beforehand. At the moment, her troubles were tucked tidily away in the back of her mind, and she thought no more of them for now. Any problem, it seemed, didn't seem troublesome at all out in the calmness of the setting sun.

"Mother shall like the flowers we picked for her," Prisca commented lazily, breaking the comfortable silence. 

"And she should!" Diamond responded. "We trudged across half the Shire for them!"

Prisca chuckled. "Perhaps not half of the Shire," she said. "But it seemed like it."

"Aye," Diamond said faintly. A soft smile stretched across her features. "I have never seen a lass climb a tree as quickly as you, Pris," she said with a giggle. Prisca sniggered.

"You seem to forget our days many years ago, Di," she said airily. "I was the fastest tree-climber in all the Shire!"

"Think what you like," Diamond retorted. "But I seem to remember beating you a fair number of times."

A stretch of silence followed this statement, until Prisca broke it once more. "Shall we head back?"

Diamond shook her head. "No. No, not yet." She sighed and opened her eyes, squinting against the glare of the falling sun. The cool water trickling over her feet felt pleasant. Sitting up, she pulled her feet from the water and drew her knees to her chest. All around, life was abundant. Flowers from shades of blue and purple to red and pink, with whites and yellows in between, bloomed copiously along the edge of the river, filling the air with a sweet pungent scent that gave Diamond a strong sense of well-being. It brought back many memories from her childhood days. Even the trees were thick with flowers and tiny buds; sometimes, if the wind blew just hard enough, petals would be freed in it and dance about in the wind like snow.

Not long after Diamond sat up, Prisca followed suit. Chin on her knees, she watched her younger sister curiously. Diamond sat staring out across the water, seeming deeply lost in her thoughts. A smile played at the corner of her lips, suggesting her thoughts were pleasant. Several curls had freed themselves from their hair tie, and without thinking, Prisca reached out and tucked them behind Diamond's ear. The sudden movement from her sister startled Diamond, and she turned to her, her smile now growing so large it overtook all her features. 

"What are you thinking about?" Prisca questioned, wishing to share the secret. 

"Do you remember days like this, when we would run about all day outside?" Diamond asked indolently. "And then Mother would beg us to come inside and take our baths... but we wouldn't. Not until she threatened us. She used to say she would take our desserts away."

"Yes," Prisca said slowly. "I remember."

"Those days seem so far away," Diamond said with a sigh. "I miss them."

"Me too, Di," Prisca said softly. 

"I think we should go back now, and show Mother the fish we've caught and the flowers we picked her, before the flowers wilt and the fish go bad," Diamond decided. A sudden grin lit up her face and she leapt to her feet, snatching the basket with the fish. "I'll race you," she said, and before Prisca could get to her feet or even agree, Diamond was off, racing across a field filled with knee-high grass and littered with bunches of wildflowers, a large grin plastered on her face as the basket flapped freely against her side. 

"That wasn't fair Diamond!" Prisca shouted, voice laced with annoyance. She was quick to get to her feet and snatch the flowers, before taking off after her sister. "Diamond, wait! Not fair!" she yelled again and Diamond's retreating back. Ahead, Diamond pretended not to hear her, though she struggled not to burst into laughter... at least not until they were back home and she had won.

--

Diamond lay awake late that night. Her grief had returned, although no tears were brought forth with it. She watched the moon from her bed, restless and not in the least bit tired. She longed to get what had happened off her chest, but didn't know how to say it. She felt betrayed and ashamed for trusting Nob... it wasn't easy to tell others, not even her sister.

She sighed and rolled over, blocking the moon from view. Tomorrow she would have to tell her mother the wedding was off. The preparations would be brought to a halt, and Diamond was sure she would be questioned; questioned about how and why and if it was possible for the two of them to patch things up. But it wasn't, and Diamond knew it. She could never trust him again, and a deep regret and a feeling along the lines of hate had begun to form deep within her.

She sighed, twisting around miserably beneath her blankets. This wasn't going to work -- she was never going to fall asleep like this. She slipped from her bed and hurried across her darkened room. Pausing at the door a moment, she then crept into the hall.

Prisca's room was two doors down from hers. Diamond slipped in silently. Moonlight drifted in from the open window, illuminating Prisca's sleeping form beneath her covers. Quickly, Diamond darted across the floor and to Prisca's bed, climbing up on the end and inching forward. For a minute she sat near her elder sister, simply watching her. She then gently prodded at Prisca's side, eyes locked on her peaceful features.

Prisca groaned and slowly opened her eyes, blinking the sleep from them. She looked confused at first, and narrowed her eyes at Diamond. "Di?" she asked sleepily. 

"Yes, I couldn't sleep," Diamond whispered.

"Did you find it absolutely necessary to wake me?" Prisca demanded, pushing herself into a sitting position and yawning widely.

"Keep your voice down," Diamond instructed. "I want to talk to you."

"About what?" Prisca asked, the volume of her voice dropped considerably. Diamond drew a deep breath.

"Nob." 

Instantly Prisca was awake, leaning forward intently. She was eager to hear what Diamond had to say.

"What about him?" she asked breathlessly. "What happened between you two?" Diamond paused a moment, and then opened her mouth to spill the tale. She was worried that the words wouldn't come easily, but to her surprise, once she began talking, she found it nearly impossible to stop.


	3. The Morning After

**Thank you a thousand times over for your lovely reviews! They've really encouraged me to keep writing. I've been having such a hard time lately with everything... writing is really my only escape. So thank you again for inspiring me! I've poured a lot of my own recent feelings into Diamond's character in this chapter, so who knows how it turned out. Hope you like it, and leave me a review to let me know what you think!**

**-Chapter Three-**

**_The Morning After_**

Prisca found herself wandering idly the next day, no destination in mind, simply thinking. As time passed by, she found herself drifting slowly towards the river again, perhaps because of her visit to it with Diamond yesterday. She hesitated, considered turning back, and then changed her mind. Instead, she splashed through the shallows along the bank, her thoughts carrying her further and further away.

A dull anger was eating away inside of her. The previous night, when Diamond had told her all about Nob (_The worthless use of space, _she thought bitterly), her anger had been intense, almost uncontrollable. At one point, she believed she had pulled on her cloak and tried to leave, Nob's house in mind as her goal. Diamond had stopped her by with insistent pleading that she wanted nothing more to do with Nob at all, and if Pris was to speak with him, it may only cause trouble. Prisca had relented. The two sisters had cried most of the night together, and with the morning, Prisca's anger was toned down a considerable amount.

Still...

She kicked a stone up from its resting place on the bottom of the river, ignoring the minor pain that shot through her foot as she did so.

_Still..._

_"He's not worth it," Prisca blubbered over and over to a sobbing Diamond. "Think no more of him! He's not worth it..."_

Despite her hopes to forget Diamond's tale of what had happened, Prisca found Diamond's words floating back into her mind and, like a puzzle, piecing themselves together until the whole thing was replayed again with Prisca as the unfortunate audience. She fought most of it off, wishing to forget it all together, but pieces still remained. 

_"I wanted to surprise him, Pris..."_

_"Of course you did, Diamond, of course you did."_

"He's a dim-witted cow," Prisca hissed aloud, pausing briefly. Her feet, numbed by the biting cold, felt oddly present as she stood up to her ankles in the water. The current drifted lazily past her, tugging only slightly upon her, not quite interested enough to drag her with it. She glanced around at the river, and then the surrounding foliage. She watched a bird hop from branch to branch of a large oak, chirping cheerfully. She wasn't sure why she had stopped. A minute passed, and then another, as she watched the bird without a sound. Finally, without much warning, it took to the air. Prisca trudged on.

_"It was that Lila lass," Diamond said, voice oddly rigid at this point in the tale. She glanced up at Prisca, eyes bright and wet. "The one down the road..." a fresh wave of tears suddenly overtook the grief-stricken lass, and she hiccupped pitifully. _

_"Yes," Prisca found herself saying. "Yes, what about her?"_

Diamond needed something to cheer her up, Prisca decided now. A trip, maybe. They could visit cousins or something of the sort. Diamond always liked to visit relatives. 

Prisca left the river and headed back towards home. The morning was still rather new, and Prisca would bet anything Diamond was still around because of that. Diamond liked to sleep late, if their mother permitted -- not that Diamond had anywhere to go, anyway.

_"He was kissing her," Diamond hissed fiercely, and Prisca was surprised of Diamond's change of emotion. She was angry now, just angry, no trace of grief left in her at the moment. "He was kissing her and I walked in on them and he jumped up full of explanations and apologies. Lila didn't understand -- she said that he had been doting upon her for weeks, months even. Months, Pris, months!"_

_"What did you do then?" Prisca asked, unsure of anything else she could say._

_"I left," Diamond said, bowing her head, tears dripping from her cheeks to her hands, folded in her lap in kind of defeated posture. "I told him the wedding was off and I left. He didn't even try to come after me."_

"Diamond!" Prisca yelled as soon as she entered the front door after arriving back home. She shed the cloak she had brought with her to ward off the morning chill. There was no answer. Prisca traipsed down the hall and poked her head into Diamond's room. It was empty; the bed was made. 

She headed towards the kitchen. Peeking in, she spotted Diamond seated at the table, head in her hands as she stared at a piece of paper before her. Curiously, and a little bit worried, Prisca stepped inside.

"Di?" she asked. "What are you doing?" Diamond glanced up at her, face expressionless.

"Drawing," she said simply. Prisca's eyes flickered over the blank paper before her. There was nothing to draw with in sight. She quickly changed the subject.

"Where's Mother?"

"Out for the day with Father," came Diamond's response. She met Prisca's eyes, a ghost of a smile traced across her lips. It didn't reach her eyes. "I told Mother the wedding was off."

Prisca's eyes widened. "What did she say?" she gasped.

"She was upset at first," Diamond said with a shrug, lowering her gaze. "Then she seemed okay with it. Said she had to cancel the plans and such. She told Father and he had mostly the same reaction."

"Oh," Prisca said. She pulled out a chair across from Diamond and dropped into it. Reaching across the table, she laid her hand tenderly over Diamond's own, no words of comfort coming to mind. At last, deciding she had to know, she asked tentatively, "Did you tell Mother why the wedding was off?"

"I just said that it wasn't working. That we didn't get along any longer... she demanded to know if this was all over 'one silly fight', and I convinced her it was a long term thing that we had been trying to work through." Diamond stared miserably at the floor. Prisca decided it was time to change the subject yet again.

"Listen, Diamond. I've had an idea."

"Oh?" Diamond said, not really appearing interested. Prisca frowned slightly, but plunged ahead.

"What do you say to a visit to our cousins'? We could stay a few weeks and catch up with them. It seems like it has been ages since we've visited." Diamond didn't respond at first, only pulled her hand weakly out from under Prisca's.

"Come on, Di," Prisca urged gently. "It will get your mind off things," she forced a large smile to her face. "Perhaps you can even meet a new lad that will catch your fancy!" as soon as she had uttered these last words, she'd wished she hadn't. Diamond's face fell so far Prisca was surprised she wasn't picking it up off the floor.

"It will be good to see our relatives again," Prisca finished hastily. Diamond shrugged. 

"I suppose so," she admitted. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, a habit she had picked up from their Father. "Very well. I could use the outing, I suppose."

"Wonderful," Prisca said brightly. "I shall tell our plans to Mother and Father, and then send the word to our cousins." She pushed back her chair and stood, smiling down at her sister. "It shall be fun, Diamond."

As Prisca left the kitchen she glanced over her shoulder at Diamond once more, who was now idly tracing patterns on the paper with her finger alone. The look of gloom shadowing her face brought back Diamond's final words from the night before, words that made Prisca want to cry desperately for her younger sister, the sister she loved and cared for so much.

_"I've given up, Prisca. I've given up."_


	4. A Huge Aid

**Yes... this is the chapter where Pippin enters the story =) This time I'm not going to apologize for the wait on the chapter, though... although I was tempted to post this days and days ago, only without the last few pages, I didn't, thus making this chapter the longest one I have yet to write by quite a few pages. Plus, I've revised (hopefully for the better) several times, and am quite proud of how this turned out! It's possibly my favorite chapter that I've ever written. So, I hope you all enjoy, and please let me know what you think! Gracias! **

**-Chapter Four-**

**_A Huge Aid_**

For the first time in a long while, Diamond felt truly happy. As she gazed 'round at the scenery of lush green leaves and plump, full flowers, felt the warm sun resting upon her arms and face, smelt the fragrance of early summer in the air (a curious sort of smell, she thought -- the smell of cut grass and ripened flowers and numerous other things she couldn't quite place, tangy and pleasing and exciting all at once), she felt light and carefree. Nob was pushed to a musky corner in the back of her mind, not to be thought about, not to be cared about. She was here, alive, on a wondrous day, and on her way to see cousins and an aunt and uncle that she adored with a sister she couldn't live without.

Never mind the fact that she and Prisca were left stranded on the outskirts of Tuckborough with little more than a vague sense of where they should be going and a rather large load of luggage.

"Oh just wait until Mother and Father hear about this," Prisca wailed miserably. "We were promised a ride to our relatives' house, not just to Tuckborough!" She desperately gave a tug to a particularly large piece of luggage, managing to move it a few inches before letting go and stepping back, panting. Diamond giggled, causing Pris to shoot her an unpleasant look. There was something about this whole situation that Diamond found wildly amusing. 

"Diamond, how are we supposed to make it to our cousins'?" Prisca moaned, raising her hands to her head as though it suddenly needed the extra support. "It's too far, and there's too much luggage! Oh that stupid driver... he _promised our parents he would see us here safely..."_

"Well, he did," Diamond pointed out with a grin. "We're safe, aren't we?" She knew Prisca was angry with their driver; in truth, she supposed she was too. He had claimed he had a tight schedule to keep, and he had gotten them _to _Tuckborough ("The deal was to drive you to Tuckborough; nothing ever was said about taking you lasses anywhere _in_ Tuckborough."). Prisca had put up a terrible fuss ("It was assumed you would have the courtesy to take us to our destination!"), and thinking of it brought a smile to Diamond's face. Her sister could have quite the temper. Apparently, though, her temper was not enough to phase the driver... apologizing profusely (although obviously not meaning it) he had driven away, leaving Prisca shouting after him and Diamond, despite everything, snickering riotously. 

"He left us on a deserted road," Prisca went on, ignoring Diamond. "So there's little chance of finding another ride... oh we told them we would be arriving today, what will they think if we don't show up? What will we do? Darned that old hobbit... he could have taken a few minutes out of his day to see us at least to our cousins' _road!_ He promised our father, he promised him... he won't be pleased, not at all. Our parents paid him and everything! Maybe they could have been more specific with their needs, but still... Diamond," Prisca abruptly whirled on her sister, her voice taking on a sarcastic tone at Diamond's lack of worry. "don't appear _concerned _or anything!"

"At least it's a nice day," Diamond pointed out at once. "It could be raining or cold. And if we wait here long enough, someone's bound to come along. This road has to be used sometime."

"Perhaps," Prisca said with a sigh. Diamond thought she sounded almost defeated. "At least you're cheerful, Di," Prisca went on. "And not dwelling over... what happened any longer."

"Yes," Diamond said, with a slightly strained smile. She wrinkled her freckle-strewn nose in distaste. "It's not worth it." And indeed, she believed she meant was she said. 

"No," Prisca agreed. "No, no it's not." Prisca was silent a moment, gazing down the empty road before speaking again. "It certainly isn't doing us much good standing here. Do you think, Diamond, that we should start walking some more? Anyone in a wagon would easily overtake us, so we wouldn't miss a chance at a ride."

"Yes, perhaps," Diamond said, consenting at last as he moved to help Prisca with the luggage. 

-----

"I'm bored, Merry," Peregrin Took complained, kicking a stone up from the dirt and watching with little interest as it bounced across the grass. He grumbled his displeasure at the lack of action around him, and slumped against the trunk of an oak, sliding to the ground in a most maladroit way.

"You're always something," Meriadoc Brandybuck muttered, following the example of his cousin and sitting besides him. "If you're not bored you're hungry; if not hungry, you're tired; and if not tired, then you're so filled with energy that you're absolutely impossible to bear."

"Perhaps," Pippin agreed desolately, then added as a sudden (and rather clever, or so he believed) afterthought, "But at least I still have some sort of sense in my head."

Merry shot a sideways glance at Pippin, raising his brow. "Meaning?"

"Meaning I haven't lost all notions of sanity over a lass," Pippin responded tartly, not missing a beat as he brought up a familiar topic between the two, a topic that often entered the conversation as a playful banter and left at least one sullen hobbit behind as it went away once more.

"I haven't!" Merry burst out at once, playing right into Pippin's ragging, though instantly the words left his lips a smile came over them, as, once more, he was oblivious to the obvious repugnance in Pippin's expression. "Well, yes, perhaps I have... but she isn't just any lass, Pip."

"No, no of course not," Pippin agreed sardonically, something Merry missed entirely. "Not just any lass. She's Estella."

"Aye, that she is," Merry replied, his gaze drifting out over the scenery, and Pippin grunted forlornly.

"Don't you go all dreamy on me again, Meriadoc Brandybuck," he ordered strictly. "There's plenty of other time for that. Now we must do something exciting."

"All right then, what shall we do?" Merry asked.

"You think of something."

 "I can think of plenty..."

"_Not involving Estella!"_

"Then I've got nothing."

Pippin heaved a very evident and very annoyed sigh. "Honestly Merry, I do believe I liked you much better before this Estella lass."

"She and I go back further than you can remember, I bet," Merry opposed promptly. Pippin could think of nothing to say to this, and so he kept quiet. Merry, however, was not quite finished. "You, Peregrin, are just sore that you can't find a lass of your own..."

"I could if I wanted to!" Pippin growled, half playfully and half out of true anger. He did not like where this conversation was going, not at all. Perhaps it was because what his cousin said was a smidgen bit true and a speck of jealously sometimes did rear its ugly face within Pippin... or perhaps it was because the mere talk of committing one's self to another made Pippin all around uncomfortable. Perhaps it was neither, Pippin justified silently. Yes, that was it. He just didn't like to talk about matters like this.

"Oh I bet..." Merry's tone dripped with sarcasm.

"For your information, the lasses happen to be crawling at my feet, simply begging me to look twice in their direction..." Pippin drawled lazily, his tone light and teasing.

Merry's sudden outburst of laughter at this statement startled Pippin so much that he was rendered speechless for several moments as Merry threw himself dramatically to the ground, most plainly overplaying his laughter. True, Pippin _had been kidding with what he had said, but did Merry have to laugh at him, like the idea was so absolutely and completely absurd? He stared blankly at Merry, not quite understanding. Not for long, however, was Pippin to be such; as soon as his temper fully awoke within his head was he atop his cousin in a heartbeat, trying to pin him in hopes to have him begging for mercy within minutes. Merry was ready for Pippin, though, and before too long, the two were rolling across the ground, engaged in a good-humored wrestling match. Pippin was laughing now too, anger forgotten, just as hard as Merry if not harder, and the two found it a struggle to breathe. It was almost simultaneously that they both gave up the match for a draw, and lay panting side-by-side on the ground, gazing up at the baby-blue sky above them._

"You know it's true," Pippin panted, still chuckling, as he turned his head sideways on the springy grass, causing his face to itch in a somewhat pleasing way as the blades trailed across it. "Any lass would give her life's possessions just for a moment of my time."

"O yes," Merry agreed with a roll of his eyes, running a hand through his bouncy fair curls. "I hear that they're breaking out in brutal fights over you constantly all throughout the Shire..."

"You heard that too?" Pippin exclaimed with a grin. "I thought I was the only one... and to think, no one believed me when I told them..."

They both laughed, any previous tension now wholly forgotten, and lapsed into comfortable silence. Pippin found that he was overly pleased. It had been much too long since he had had a good tumble with his cousin, and even if it did start over a tad bit of anger, it ended all in good nature. He just wished more days could be like this. Now, ever since they had returned to the Shire again, both Merry and Pippin's time seemed to be constantly used up, between family and responsibilities, and, in Merry's case, Estella. It wasn't often the two got a day to themselves, and time to spend together, at that. 

Merry soon pushed himself into a half-sitting position, resting his weight on his elbows. Pippin, still lost in thoughts, barely noticed, until Merry spoke. "Still want to do something, Pip, or do you wish to lay here all day?"

Pippin's curiosity perked at once. "What do you have in mind, cousin?" he questioned, gazing up at him in interest. Merry nodded in the direction of the road, quite some distance away.

"They look in need of help." He responded.

Pippin pushed himself into a sitting position, quite eager to see what Merry meant. The road he had motioned to wasn't a very often used one, only making it all the more motivating. Gazing off into the distance, Pippin could make out two lone figures, appearing quite isolated and alone and at a loss. They appeared at a standstill, unsure of themselves and what to do.

"Shall we at least go and see?" Merry asked Pippin, glancing sideways at him to catch his initial response.

"We shall," Pippin declared, a sudden rush of restlessness surging through him. "I'm quite interested to see what they're doing alone around here."

"Come on then, Pip," Merry said suddenly, standing and addressing the large field that rolled and tumbled across to the road. "Race you!" he added with a sly grin, before his long legs sprang into action and he flew from Pippin's side.

A large grin slowly spread across Peregrin's face, and, not missing a beat, he was on his feet and tearing after his cousin. Laughing and stumbling their way through the knee-high grass, not caring how idiotic they may or may not look, their long strides ate up the field before they came out upon the other road, out of breath but vastly pleased as they halted one-by-one before the two lasses they had every intention of aiding. 

"Hullo there!" Merry panted as soon as he drew to a stop before the two, a considerable amount of distance before Pippin. "My cousin and I couldn't help but notice the fact that..."

He was violently interrupted as Pippin finally crashed his way over, smacking straight into Merry and causing them both to tumble helplessly to the ground in a jarring heap of legs and arms. "Pip!" Merry shouted angrily from the ground, spitting a substantial amount of dirt from his mouth and rubbing a sleeve across his face. He shoved his cousin from him, fighting to stand as the two lasses collapsed vulnerably into laughter.

-----

"No one is going to come along," Prisca moaned for about the hundredth time that hour. "We shall be stuck here forever!"

"Stop it Pris!" Diamond demanded irately, feebly tugging her luggage behind her. They were making quite good time, or so she thought. She supposed she didn't want to know how fast they were truly going, for she knew it would be a large amount less than what she figured they were doing. Just the thought of it disheartened her so much that she pushed it from her mind.

Prisca said nothing, crossing her arms adamantly as she pointedly looked the other way. Diamond sighed, letting go of her luggage and wiping her brow. The two lasses were hot and sweaty, and clearly not in the best of moods.

"Even if we have to do it all ourselves, we'll get there," Diamond maintained, shading her eyes from the sun and glancing down the road as if hoping to spot something of hope somewhere in the distance. She didn't expect to see anything, and therefore, was quite surprised when she actually did.

"Look, Pris!" She gasped suddenly, pointing across the field. Prisca sighed loudly.

"If this is something dull..." she began, for Diamond had stopped to point out several 'fascinating' things (once a tree, twice a bird) several times already. Prisca honestly couldn't care less at the time. She anticipated it to be just that, however, and therefore, began to reprimand her sister before she even caught sight of what excited Diamond.

"Diamond, to put it quite frankly, I don't really..." she stopped short and drew a breath as she followed Diamond's finger. Across the field adjacent the road they stood upon and advancing rapidly towards them were two hobbit lads. "Oh thank goodness," Prisca whimpered weakly at once. She paused. "Wait, I am really seeing them, aren't I? I'm not just imagining things?"

"I told you someone would come!" Diamond said gleefully, bouncing up and down as the two drew even closer. The closer they got, the taller they became, and even when they should have stopped getting taller to be considered of normal hobbit height, they grew more still. Diamond gawked openly as she realization suddenly hit her hard; these particular lads _weren't _normal, what in their fancy dressings that glinted in the sun (for now they were close enough to be observed in detail) and abnormal heights. In fact, one of them she knew to be distantly related to her family, although she had never met him in person...

And Diamond gaped still even as the first reached the two and addressed them. Even before she had a chance to speak, however, the second came barreling into the first and they went down; quite painfully, from the looks of it, yet quite comically nonetheless. She and Pris both burst into laughter (rather rudely, she thought even as she giggled helplessly) as they watched the two stagger to their feet. When they were standing once more, dirty and battered and looking positively embarrassed, again Diamond's mind was flooded with thoughts.

"You're _huge," was the first thing she blurted, before either said anything else. As soon as these words floated from her mouth, she blushed a heated red and clamped her hands firmly across her face. Prisca giggled._

"I prefer the term 'tall' myself," one said pleasantly, and turning her gaze to him, Diamond knew him to be Meriadoc Brandybuck. Her eyes traveled silently to the other besides him, and figured at once that it _must be Peregrin Took. _

"You two saved the Shire a couple years ago!" was the next thing Diamond said, as soon as she lowered her hands from her mouth. "I know you..."

"Shush Di," Prisca instructed softly from her side. To the lads, she said, "Diamond has been absolutely enthralled with the fact that you two left the Shire before returning -- alive and apparently well -- only to toss out the Ruffians and Sharky. It was all she talked about for months after it happened."

The two lads grinned in Diamond's direction, and she felt heat creep up her neck and engulf her face. "I just..." she stuttered, before changing course entirely. "What's it like outside the Shire? Oh, I've seen you from a distance before and I wanted to talk to you, I truly did... what are the odds of meeting you two _here anyway? I mean..."_

"Slow down," Pippin commanded, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "We have your name, dear Diamond, but what of this other lovely lass?" He turned his beaming face to Prisca.   

"Prisca," Pris said at once. "Diamond's sister."

"Well met, both of you," Merry said cheerfully. 

"Could you help us?" Prisca plunged ahead before anymore was said. "I'm afraid our driver has left us stranded and without much chance to get where we're going on our own. We know how to get there -- it's just the problem of getting there that presents itself."

"With pleasure," Pippin said readily. He turned to Diamond with certainly the most radiating smile she had ever seen, and she swallowed hard as she felt a pleasant shiver course through her body. "Perhaps we can quench this young lass' thirst for information on the way, or at least douse it slightly."

"Perhaps," Diamond said with a tight smile, feeling budding excitement ripple within her. This visit was turning out wonderful before it even truthfully began. She drew a deep breath, prepared to fire any question that crossed her mind at the two. She wanted to know everything.

-----

**I certainly hope it wasn't _too drawn-out or anything! I decided only when writing this chapter to have Diamond genuinely interested in the Quest the four hobbits partook on and life outside the Shire... and now that I've done so, I figure that it will play a huge part in Diamond and Pippin's relationship. Just a little note =) Okay well, please review; let me know what you thought!_**


	5. Dinner, Pony, and Heartache

**Baxley -- You know, that's a very good question, and I'm actually surprised no one asked me already! You're right, it does seem like North-took females would be named after gems, doesn't it? I really don't know why I named Prisca what I did, other than my own reasoning. When I started this story, I was positive I would give Diamond a sister and have her be sort of like Diamond's strength and support. The name Prisca just came to me one day, and I ran it through my head a few times before I realized that it seemed to fit best. I don't know how to explain it, really, it just seemed different, and I wanted Diamond's sister to _be _different. She's such a huge part of Diamond's life that I wanted her to stand out in more ways than one. I think that's part of why I named her what I did. The rest of her name really doesn't have reasoning. Oh, I'm horrible at explaining this! To me, it just seemed to fit best.******

**To Everyone -- Urgh! I hope you guys can forgive me! I haven't abandoned this story, or my other one. A few weeks ago I was attempting to upload a new chapter on "Distance to the Stars" (a long, incredibly hard one for me to write and I was pretty proud of it) when somehow, due to my stupidity, it got deleted. I was REALLY mad and attempted to rewrite it, though it wasn't the same. I'm still working on it, though, so no worries. It was then I realized that even though I was furious at my other story and how I lost the chapter, I could still update this one. So here we go!**

**On a lighter note...**** Thank you all for your encouraging reviews =) This chapter was especially hard to write, as I tried to capture a glimpse of the grief that Diamond still has, and yet at the same time attempted to progress the story. Hope you enjoy!**

**-Chapter Five-**

**_Dinner, Pony, and Heartache_**

Diamond propped her chin on her hand, elbows resting on the grass, cool from the shade of the large oak, and narrowed her eyes mulishly at Prisca, who rested several yards away. The faint drone of passing insects and the sounds of laughter and a faint splashing, sounds of a lazy hot day, rang out around them. The tangy smell of freshly cut grass met Diamond's nose and she inhaled deeply, eyes still glued upon her sister's face. Prisca arched her eyebrows in return and stifled a giggle. Diamond looked quite amusing, her unkempt curls springing back from where Diamond had attempted to pin them back, a look of exasperation painted across her striking face.

"All I'm saying," Prisca said to Diamond. "Is that you and Mister Peregrin seemed to hit it off wonderfully." She knew her words would either hurt Diamond due to that blasted Nob, or they would encourage her. She hoped it was the latter.

Diamond rolled upon her back and didn't answer immediately. Her thoughts traveled back to the previous afternoon; with the help of Merry and Pippin (who had assisted in hauling their luggage along) and Prisca's sense of direction and keen memory from the last time they had visited, they had reached their cousin's house by late afternoon, hot, sweaty, exhausted, but all-around in one piece. "Hmm," was all Diamond said after a few moments.

"He seemed to like to talk about himself," Prisca noted. "when you asked him those questions about his quest outside the Shire in vast amounts. I hardly know how he managed to answer them all."

A faint frown flickered across Diamond's face. "I didn't ask him _that many," she protested. Prisca rolled her eyes but made no response._

Diamond's thoughts drifted. In the hours it had taken them to get to their destination, she had found both Pippin and Merry's company enjoyable. She had learned an awfully lot about the two; she had heard all about Estella from both Merry and Pippin (though Pippin's information about the lass was mostly complaints) and a lot of their journey with Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. For the first time, she had been given a touch of their side, and the pain and memories that went along with it. When they had arrived at their relatives', they had been greeted warmly and then retreated to their rooms to unpack, leaving Merry and Pippin chatting with their Uncle Wilibald and Aunt Lily. When they came back out, they discovered Merry and Pippin were still there, and excused themselves, retreating alone to talk. 

"Cousins!" came a sudden yelp nearby, and was followed by a young lass with bouncy dark curls. She leapt upon the nearest hobbit, who happened to be Prisca. "We are having supper, now!" she exclaimed with a giggle, her arms flung around Prisca's neck tightly.

"Thank you, little Pearl," Prisca said, tickling the lass's sides playfully. She squealed with delight, squirming out of her older cousin's arms. 

"We shall come along soon," Diamond added. A wide grin spread across Pearl's face as she turned it towards Diamond.

"Cousin Diamond!" She shrieked, and Diamond braced herself as it was now her turn to be leapt upon by Pearl. 

"Since when have they started letting you out of the house?" Diamond asked teasingly. Pearl pulled back from her forceful hug and stuck her tongue out. 

"Very funny," she commented. Diamond smiled and bent, placing a kiss on the lass's button nose. 

"Nasty Diamond germs!" Pearl yelped. "Get them off!" she giggled more, jerking back from Diamond and rubbing her nose furiously. "Icky yucky Diamond germs!"

Diamond puckered her lips and made kissing noises. Her young cousin leapt to her feet and raced away to Prisca. 

"Save me Pris!" she cried, burying her face in Prisca's curls. 

"Oh, I shall save you from Diamond's germs, but how do you feel about Prisca germs?" She questioned, planting little kisses up and down the lass's head.

"Ick!" Pearl shouted, and fell backwards into the grass, laughing until she could no longer breathe.

"Perhaps we should get along to supper?" Diamond suggested, once Pearl's laughter had faded away into occasional spurts of giggles.

"Yes!" Pearl exclaimed at once, bounding to her feet. "Father invited Misters Merry and Pippin to stay!"

"He did?" Diamond asked at once. Prisca grinned at Diamond's enthused reaction.

"Yes," Pearl said, bobbing her head up and down in accord. "He said it's the least we can do, after they helped you both to get here without harm."

"Well, let's go then! We can't keep them waiting, can we?" Prisca asked. She, too, stood, pulled Diamond to her feet, and then lifted Pearl from the ground, swinging her back and forth in her arms and earning encouraging laughter from her cousin, as the three hurried away towards supper.

-----

Diamond found the seating arrangements to be quite to her liking at supper. To her left sat Prisca, to her right, Merry, and at either ends of the table were her aunt and uncle. On the opposite side of the table from her modest Pearl pestered Pippin with things such as, "Are you so tall 'cause you ate your vegetables? Because Mother says..." or "Do you like to play Pony? I used to play all the time with my older brother, but then he got married and moved away..."

Indeed, Diamond had noted the absence her cousin, Milo. She had of course known he had moved out, though she hadn't really given it much thought until now. A faint frown crossed her face, as she wondered if she would get to see him at all during their visit.

Merry noticed it and nudged her gently. "Perhaps you can get Pippin to answer some more of your questions later," he murmured. "That is, after he is done playing Pony..."

A grin flitted across Diamond's face as she realized that poor Pippin had been roped into being taught how to play Pony by Pearl. Pippin glanced at them hopelessly as Pearl prattled on and on.

"I'm sure you'll have fun," Diamond commented with a wry smile. She had had her own share of Pony in her time, and knew exactly the amount of pain Pippin may be experiencing by the end of the game.

"I'm quite glad you two lads decided to stay," Her Uncle Wil was saying now. "Your absence can't be missed too terribly much, can it?"

"We should hope not," Merry responded with a smile.

"Good, good," Aunt Lily chipped in. "We had to repay you for assisting our nieces somehow."

"It was really nothing," Pippin insisted modestly. "I think we have more to thank for this supper!" 

A faint blush crossed Lily's cheeks. "I hope it's to your liking. Just something I threw together..."

"It's lovely," Prisca put in. "Thank you, Aunt." She was awarded with a convivial smile from her aunt, who seemed quite pleased with the praise.

It was after this that the talk turned from one subject to another, passing over nothing particularly important. Diamond was content to listen most of the time; Pippin and Merry had one amusing tale after another, and had the table in hysterics more than once with their stories of their foolish antics. Diamond more than once found her gaze wandering and landing up Pippin's face; his pleasant features and moderately amiable smile, before catching herself with a faint blush. She reasoned it was simply because he was directly across from her and therefore, easily within her range of view. She hardly knew the lad, after all, and she certainly wasn't looking for anything. So what if he had a nice smile? She supposed she was free to admire it. She wasn't the only one admiring either of them, she soon found out. Pearl seemed to be specifically taken by the both Pippin and Merry, and it was her that insisted they stay for tea after supper.

"That way, I can show you how to play Pony!" she informed Pippin. Diamond smiled sympathetically at him as Pearl dragged him off. She and Prisca then went with their Aunt Lily to prepare the tea, but she waved them off.

"You're guests here, it is your first night visiting," she told them. "Plus, we have guests. I shall manage, I always do." And with that she hugged and kissed them both, exclaiming once more that she was overjoyed to have them, and sent them away.

As Diamond and Prisca approached the sitting room, they heard Pearl's familiar laughter, and several noises of protest, followed by more laughter. They exchanged amused glances.

"Pearl's teaching them Pony," Prisca said, shaking her head with a small smile.

"Better them then us," Diamond responded, and the two laughed, before Diamond linked her arm through Prisca's and led her in.

They were greeted by a situation that Diamond would later find hard to forget. Both Merry and their uncle sat in chairs near the fireplace, watching Pearl and Pippin with amused expressions. Pippin was sprawled out on his back and stretched to his full extent, groaning with an exasperated expression, and Pearl sat on his stomach, bouncing up and down while squealing incessantly. 

"I don't want to play Pony," Pippin informed the lass. "You didn't tell me I would have to carry you!"

"No, not carry me," Pearl objected. "I ride on your back. See? You're my pony," she stuck her tongue out playfully. "Now get on your hands and knees, pony, and give me a ride!"

"I was sore for a week the first time I played Pony," Diamond told them with a giggle, as she and Prisca moved to sit.

"A week?" Prisca asked. "That's nothing. I was sore for two!"

"Yes, in Pearl's eyes, a pony should _never tire."_

Pippin groaned, and then proceeded to complain and protest more than Diamond would have thought possible of a hobbit his age, but Pearl won out in the end.

"I shall play," he said with a sigh. "But only if Merry is the Pony next." He grinned wickedly at his cousin.

"We shall see," was all Merry would say, accompanied by a chuckle. "I am still trying to get past the fact that a young lass like Pearl has been able to make you do this for her."

"It's her eyes," Prisca told Merry as Pippin reluctantly pulled himself onto his hands and knees. Pearl scrambled upon his back with an excited giggle. "You can't look into them. They draw you in and you have to do her every wish."

"No, it's her pout," Diamond argued. "The way she sticks her lower lip out when she doesn't get her way. That's what _really_ draws you in."

"It's both her eyes and her pout. The two together could do more damage than anything in Middle Earth combined," their uncle decided, and they all laughed, even Pippin, who, everyone had to admit, looked beyond amusing crawling around on all fours with a young lass on his back, clutching his shirt and kicking his sides frantically. Diamond couldn't help herself and let out a slight laugh, causing Pippin to whip his head up and shoot her a glare, followed by a look of complete disgust. His eyes shone with mirth, however, to show that even if he didn't voice it, he was enjoying himself. The laughter died on Diamond' lips as her breath caught in her throat. In a second his gaze was gone, though the feeling was not.

Prisca caught it. She placed a hand over her sister's. "Are you alright?" she asked with a knowing smile. Diamond glowered.

"Fine," she responded, coming to her senses at once. It was nothing. Nothing more than a normal reaction of a lass who was glanced at by one of the most desirable hobbits this side of the Shire.

At least, that's what she heard from the ceaseless conversations between the lasses around her home. She suddenly grinned. What would they say when she told them she had dinner with not only Peregrin Took, but Meriadoc Brandybuck? Their reactions would be beyond price.

Prisca was not satisfied with this answer. "I caught you looking at him all through dinner," she teased softly, her voice only loud enough for Diamond's ears. 

"I was not!" Diamond burst out at once. Luckily enough for Diamond, Merry and her uncle were too deep in conversation about how they would handle the river if it flooded again this year to hear, and Pippin had his hands rather full at the moment, so it went unheard by everyone except Prisca.

"Don't worry, sister," Prisca said with a smile. "It's okay if you like Mister Peregrin. You'll only be like every other lass in the Shire."

Diamond glared daggers at her sister. "I feel no such way."

"Your actions suggest otherwise." Prisca let her gaze drift over to Pippin, who laid upon the floor pretending to be sleeping or otherwise dead to little Pearl, who pounded upon his back with her little fists, demanding her 'pony' to get up and give her more rides. She grinned. "He is pleasant enough. It would be a smart match, I would say." Her grin widened. She was merely teasing, of course, for she was sure that if Diamond had any feelings at all, they were merely a small infatuation, soon to pass, like any other lass who laid eyes upon Pippin. Prisca chuckled slightly, and spoke again. "And I'm sure he would eagerly return your affections..."

Diamond shook her head. "No," she said softly and without delay. The tone in her voice was so final, though, and the look upon her face so full of ache that Prisca instantly understood.

"It is too soon even to joke," she murmured, and took Diamond's hand. "Diamond, dear, I am sorry... I was teasing, that's all it was. I meant no harm."

"It is not your fault," Diamond said miserably. "I need to get over this one way or another, although in my own time." She raised her gaze to Prisca's eyes and lowered her voice so much that Prisca barely caught her words over the hubbub of the rest of the room. "And I do not like Pippin, and even if I did, it would not work."

Prisca was confused. "What makes you say that?"

"Because, Pris, I've told you before. I've given up."

Prisca's thoughts went back to the weeks before when Diamond had uttered those words. Her forehead creased with a faint frown. "But, Di, Nob was one hobbit... and just because he wasn't intelligent enough to hold onto you while he had the chance is no reason to condemn all other males you meet. Someone out there is right..."

"Or perhaps it all ends in pain," Diamond disagreed. "I've been hurt once, Prisca. I'm smart enough to realize that if I let my feelings run so deep once more than I shall be hurt again!"

Prisca laced her fingers tightly through Diamond's. "No Diamond, it doesn't work like that. Nob was not right for you, you should realize that. Perhaps you didn't care for him as much as you thought you did, and he with you. The ending to your relationship, however painful it may be, was a blessing in disguise. I truly believe that."

"I'm thankful that Uncle and Aunt have not brought up the cancelled wedding yet," Diamond murmured, staring at her knees. 

Prisca sighed. "Diamond, listen to me. Don't give up. Your one serious relationship--"

"--was painful enough to make me realize I never want anything like it again! Prisca, please," Diamond looked at her with pleading eyes. "Please let it go."

"Time heals all wounds, and you will realize that your life will go on, and there will be other hobbits in your life!"

"No, Prisca!" Diamond hissed, snatching her hand away. "Can't you just respect my decision? I don't ever want to be hurt again, and I am never going to chance being hurt. That is exaclty what I have decided, and I am not going to change my mind. I am happy with just my family and my friends, for that is all I shall ever have."

Prisca opened her mouth to argue more, but their aunt chose that time to come in with the tea. Pippin was rescued from Pearl, almost in the same way, Prisca thought dryly, that Diamond had just been saved from this conversation. The tea was handed out, and talk much like the talk at dinner resumed once more. Diamond was silent for almost the entire conversation, her gaze focused on the floor or on her hands, folded neatly in her lap. She wouldn't look at Prisca.

Prisca sighed. Diamond was being impossible. In time she would realize, like Prisca tried to tell her, that time would heal all wounds. Diamond would move on. She simply had to.

Taking small sips of her tea, Prisca turned all her thoughts away from this and jumped into the conversation taking place. She found that Merry was informing the group of the time a drunken Pippin had spread chaos at the Green Dragon, and found that she could merely laugh all her troubling thoughts away.

-----

**Sorry it has taken so long. Review and let me know what you thought, please!**


	6. Nighttime Wonderings

**I thought a chapter that was devoted to Pippin would do us all good ;) So here you are!**

**Quick Notes: Lhachel, did I truly put the word 'okay' in here? Urgh, and I tried so hard to avoid it! Thank you so much for pointing it out!**

**All reviewers: Your encouragement and advice is so incredibly supporting, you have no idea! Although I write partly for my own enjoyment, I write mostly for you -- I love all your feedback, all of it. I'm extremely greedy when it comes to reviews -- I'll take all I can get! And you all have certainly made all the time put into this and all my writing worthwhile. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you! **

**And so on we go, jumping right in with Pippin and his terribly confusing thoughts. Neither Pippin nor Diamond have any idea of the ride I'm about to take them on, and I hope you all stick around for it!**

**-Chapter Six-**

**_Nighttime Wonderings_**

Pippin lay awake in bed late that night. It was partly because the night was too warm for sleep in his opinion, but mostly because of what was on his mind.

A cool breeze floated in through the parted window, playfully dancing through Pippin's long curls and skimming the surface of his clammy skin. He rolled over in bed, curled one arm beneath his pillow, and threw his covers off with the other. He found his thoughts in most unpleasant territory, and wasn't sure how to get them back out again.

For the first time in his life, he had come to terms with his feelings about Merry and Estella. They were to be wed in the fall, and Pippin was jealous. Merry had managed to find and snag what a lot of hobbits (well, Pippin wasn't entirely sure about this; he supposed he could only say what _he) had always wanted; love. Not false, phony, cheated love, the kind that some hobbits based a marriage off of ("We get along just fine, and the fights are few; it is better than nothing") but genuine, true love._

He could see it when he looked into Merry's eyes. He loved her dearly. 

Pippin shoved his face into his pillow in frustration. When was it his turn? He had always been the younger cousin, always second to do things, always tagging along. He had always tended to be happy for his elder cousin when he had it well enough. He was happy for him now. But he was also jealous. He wanted what Merry had for once. He was not ashamed to admit that, at least not to himself.

Pippin had to confess that he had given up on it for the time being. He told himself repeatedly that eventually, he may fall for some silly lass somewhere, and they would be wed and he would take over his position of Thain and have little children of his own. Perhaps just as foolish as he was. That thought brought a small grin to his face, as Merry would often chide him and claim that one day his children would either be as foolish as him or wiser, and think little of their old Da.

The grin was gone quickly, however, and his thoughts returned full-paced. Yes, he had given up for the time being. Merry had Estella and Estella had Merry, and Pippin tagged along behind them both, tying up the rear, just struggling to keep up. That was just how it was.

Besides, what lass was interested in his silly feelings? In his thoughts and his mind? 

And then today. Pippin frowned thoughtfully, trying to gather his thoughts it some sort of order. He succeeded to some extent.

He wasn't sure of his feelings, and wasn't sure if he ever would be. But earlier that day when Merry and he had run across Prisca and Diamond... it almost seemed like fate, as irrational as it sounded to Pippin to admit it.

And there I go with my foolishness again, he thought bitterly. 

But he couldn't help it. The walk had been painfully long, but Pippin thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Why shouldn't he? The company was pleasant.

More than pleasant, it was desirable.

Diamond looked him in the eye when he spoke. She questioned him; she seemed authentically interested in his life and what he had to say. She asked of their journey with Frodo and Sam. 

The quest was a part of him. Diamond seemed to realize this.

He felt drawn to her. He wasn't sure how, but he did. I _am foolish, he thought suddenly. For he knew barely anything of this lass, had only just met her today. So she asked him a few questions, talked to him most of the day. It meant nothing._

Yet it did.

He thought bitterly that if he voiced these thoughts to anyone they would deem him has being the silly lad he always was. Thirsty for tales and unwilling to accept reality.  That was how he had been growing up, he knew. But he wasn't a lad, not any longer. His feelings and his thoughts should count for something!

He thought of Merry, asleep in the guest room down the hall, probably dreaming of his Estella. Better yet, she was probably dreaming of him as well from her own bed. Merry and Pippin had left from dinner late, having talked into the night, and upon arriving home had immediately gone to bed. How he wished to have someone to dream of, and to dream of him in return!

Perhaps he would dream of someone tonight, even if the dream wasn't shared. Perhaps he would see her gleaming curls, freckled-strewn face, and her nose wrinkle up delightfully as she giggled, her bright eyes alert and full of curiosity... 

Stop it, Peregrin! He scolded himself. Stop lusting after this lass you hardly know.

For it was lust, it had to be. How could he ever think he felt a certain way about someone he didn't even know?

He did know her, though, or so he felt. He felt he knew all about her, and felt a thirst that would only be quenched by being with her. His thoughts abruptly hit a dead-end. He was foolish after all. Nothing would come of this. Love at first sight was hardly viable. In fact, it was downright imprudent!

She had been silent through a lot of the dinner and tea. Still, however, there was something about just being in the same room as this lass, something so enticing and wondrous...

Had anyone noticed his stolen, sidelong glances? They were often enough. He supposed she didn't, at the very least. Heat crept up his neck and tinted his cheeks at the thought of anyone noticing his repeated glimpses of the sweet face that had occupied the room with him for hours he wished would not have ended...

A rash and inexplicable fury suddenly rose in his chest and without warning, he found his legs had seemed to come to life and swung out of his bed all on their own. His feet collided with the chilly floor, and then took him away; out the door, down the hall, and into the guestroom.

Papers were strewn across the chair and desk tucked neatly away in the corner; clothes and other such garments were scattered about recklessly. Moonlight overflowed through the shut window, and the sill before it was littered with useless trinkets. A smile crossed Pippin's face. It seemed Merry had made himself quite at home.

Merry himself was not happy with being awoken. He grumbled and groaned and wrathfully glared at his younger cousin as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Pippin waited as he rubbed his sleep-filled eyes and stretched intentionally, soft moonlight spilling across his tired face and illuminating his curls.

"What is it, Pippin?" Merry hissed at last, locking his eyes in Pippin's. "It had better be good."

"I can't sleep, Merry."

"That's not a good reason, Pip," Merry growled, a glower flickering across his face.

"Perhaps why I cannot sleep is a good reason?" Pippin suggested hopefully.

Merry blinked several times. For a moment, time seemed to have stopped and then started again, this time in reverse. For a moment, Pippin was just a wee lad again so many years before, coming to his older cousin in the middle of night because he had a scary dream or heard a frightening noise. For a moment, they both seemed to be trapped in an illogical time inverse, and Merry felt his heart soften and fill with such love that his cousin would come to him for comfort, of all hobbits. And then it was gone, and they were in their own time, grown lads who happen to be sitting together on a bed in the middle of the night. Merry blinked several times. Though time had seemed to change briefly, his feelings had not. He was reminded of the love he had for Pippin, always had had, and always would have. Of the way he had always longed to comfort him when he was upset. He smiled, yawned involuntarily, and nodded. "Let's hear it, shall we?"

Pippin drew a deep breath, his eyes flickering around the room. He didn't know how to express such vague feelings, and any words that formulated in his mind sounded quite daft. "How was it," he began slowly, at last. "that you felt when you first met Estella?" He knew this would cause Merry to fish far back into the depths of his memory and retrieve the thought from a dusty corner, but he thought perhaps it would shed a bit of light on his current situation.

Merry regarded him curiously. "Annoyed," he responded. "I believe it was because she shoved me out of an apple tree, many years before." His brow furrowed. "You woke me up to ask me this? Could it not have waited until morning? And why do you even wish to know?"

"It could not have waited, since I cannot sleep now, cousin," Pippin said tartly. "I wish to know for my own information." He paused briefly. "Did you feel... connected to her in any way?" He felt amazingly absurd for asking Merry this and felt himself color briefly, but hoped that in the faint light Merry would not notice.

Merry rested his elbows on his knees and looked carefully at Pippin, who sat at the end of the bed regarding Merry in much the same way. "Not that I can think of," he said slowly. "Fatty and I were friends so I saw much of her, and we slowly grew to be friends ourselves. This was a long time ago, remember Pip. We were so very young," Merry paused, a dreamlike expression temporarily flooding his face. "It wasn't until after we returned with Frodo and Sam that we began to realize that it was possibly more than friendship."

"Oh," said Pippin, somewhat putout.

"I have to ask, Peregrin Took," Merry said seriously. "Why you have woken me up in the dead of night to ask me seemingly pointless questions about Estella."

Pippin titled his head slightly to the right and acquired a pensive sort of look. "Do you believe in such a thing as... I don't know, Merry, feeling perhaps _drawn to someone?" _

A broad grin suddenly appeared on Merry's face. "So _that _is what this is about!" he declared. Pippin raised his eyebrows and stared at Merry in confusion.

"Diamond!" Merry said for clarification. "You could not keep your eyes off her, Pip, and now you are waking me up to ask about my feelings for Estella. I hope you don't think that it's not obvious." 

Pippin opened his mouth furiously, and then shut it again. There was nothing he could say. Merry had said it all.

"So," Merry mused. "Are you planning on going back for a visit?"

"I don't know, Merry!" Pippin said. His head met his hands and he massaged his forehead, letting forth a miserable groan. When he finally looked back up, Merry was surprised at the amount of gravity his cousin's youthful face held. "You may think I'm as foolish as you wish for saying this, Merry, but it's true. I don't know how to explain it well, but I felt... attached to her in some way. Drawn to her. And I felt like she understood, and that she would understand anything I ever tell her. It's such a... different feeling than any I have ever experienced. A pleasant one, one I wish to hold onto."

Merry looked hesitant. "Love?" he questione.

"No!" Pippin said at once. "No, not that. I don't even know her that well, Merry!"

"You don't need to get angry," Merry said softly.

"I'm not. I'm just frustrated, I suppose." Pippin sighed. "That's the foolish part of it all. I barely know her; I don't know her! Yet I feel like this, and I feel like I do know her, in a way. I don't know her favorite season or how she likes to spend her time; I don't know of her past or her hopes for the future; I don't even know if she's promised to another already! Yet I do know her..." he glanced exasperatedly. "Does that make any sense, cousin, any at all?"

Merry nodded. "Yes, it does."

"Does it?" Pippin asked, relief flooding through him. Relief from what he wasn't sure, but it comforted him.

"In ways."

"What ways?" Pippin prodded.

"In ways that I can be sure you are absolutely taken with this lass, and that I insist you go back to see her," Merry said matter-of-factly.

Pippin slumped. "Yes, I suppose," he murmured. He supposed he should feel better about this whole situation somehow... yet he felt oddly disappointed. What else had he been looking for?

"It's all so unbelievable," Merry said with a mock sigh. Pippin glanced up.

"What is?"

"My little cousin is getting older with every passing day. Where does the time go?" Merry heaved an overdramatic sigh and pulled forward to engulf his cousin in a warm hug. Pippin returned it at first, and then scowled and pulled back.

"I'm hardly little," he retorted. "And besides, you are not one to talk, with Estella and such. You aren't that much older than me. Only a few years."

"A few years?" Merry laughed. "Think what you wish, little cousin." He emphasized the 'little'. "Now, get out Pip, and let me get back to sleep. You get yourself back to your own room and let yourself sleep. You have nothing to worry about." A yawn followed by another overtook him and he felt his eyelids droop, heavy with drowsiness. 

Pippin nodded and stood. "You're right, Merry, thank you."  
Merry grinned. "We much older folk know best," he teased. 

"And are laid to rest first," Pippin retorted sourly. Merry moved to throw his pillow at him, but by the time he had actually pitched it towards Pippin, the door was closed and Pippin was gone; the pillow bounced harmlessly off the door and to the floor. Merry shook his head and went to retrieve it.

"Cousins," he murmured beneath his breath. "They're good for nothing except waking you up in the middle of the night to ask trivial questions about trivial manners." He smiled slightly as he laid his head upon his pillow. He wouldn't have it any other way.

-----

**We are just beginning to graze the tip of the iceberg! Poor Pippin has no idea what he's getting himself into. You guys saw how much reviews mean to me at the beginning of the chapter, so please! Review! Thank you!**

**(Another quick note: If any of you have been reading 'Distance to the Stars', then maybe you've noticed a bit of a similarity between the second chapter of it, involving Fatty and Estella, and this one. Seems I can't stay away from these nighttime visits! They're just too much fun to write.)**


	7. A Sticky Situation

**-Chapter Seven-**

**_A Sticky Situation_**

Because Diamond had gotten little sleep the previous night due to troublesome thoughts, she found herself with a terrible headache the next day. 

Though the day was warm enough, storm clouds threatened to unleash off in the distance, and it seemed that every time you were to look, they were closer than before.

"I hope it does not rain," Pearl whimpered, nose pressed flat against the window in the kitchen. 

"Get off the table, Pearl," was Diamond's response. Pearl, who had been using the table as a resting place to gaze out the window, waited until her older cousin's back was turn to stick her tongue out, before scrambling down obediently. 

Uncle Wil had readied the cart and taken Aunt Lily and Prisca into town for the day. Unwilling to travel two days in a row, Diamond had offered to stay home and prepare supper for when they returned. Immediately, at the prospect of escaping the journey, Pearl had offered to keep Diamond company. 

Normally, Diamond wouldn't have minded as she loved her cousin dearly, but on top of her headache the young lass was proving to be just too much.

"Is it ready yet?" Pearl demanded, now seated much more properly in a chair.

"Almost," Diamond said with a weary sigh as she rummaged through the back of the cupboard. She withdrew the jar of jam she had been searching for at long last and set it down, picking up a knife and proceeding to cut the bread.

"I don't want any bread," came Pearl's voice, suspiciously near to where Diamond had just set the jam down. 

"Then what are you going to eat?" Diamond asked slowly. She could almost picture the wide grin creeping across Pearl's face. 

"Jam, of course!" she giggled. Diamond whirled around, and was met with a scene she dreaded. Pearl clutched the jar in her small hands, beaming up at her cousin.

"You know you can't just eat the jam, Pearl," Diamond said in what she hoped to be a reasonable tone. "Now give that here..."

"Bread ruins the jam," Pearl argued, taking a step back. Groaning inwardly, Diamond could easily spot the mirth in Pearl's eyes. She was in no mood for games.

"Pearl," Diamond said in a weak voice. She rubbed her throbbing temples, shutting her eyes briefly. "_Please give that here. We can play later."_

"No," Pearl said. "You have to catch me first!" She squealed with laughter and tore from the kitchen, jam jar teetering dangerously in her hands.

"Pearl!" Diamond shouted. She hesitated, eyes darting from the bread she had been cutting to the door Pearl had just left through. She didn't want to give in to her cousin and chase her... but the scene of Pearl scraping the jar clean with grimy fingers arose in her mind and she gritted her teeth. In a second she, too, was out the door.

The chase ensued around the house. Pearl, of course, knew all the best hiding spots, and whenever Diamond found her and managed to get a hold of her, Pearl would wiggle her way out of Diamond's grasp and be off again. It was enough to make Diamond's head split in half, and after a good ten minutes of this, she sunk into a chair in defeat, head in her hands once more. 

"Just wait, Pearl," she muttered, grimacing as her head pounded. "You had better not open that jar... just wait..."

Gentle footsteps floated from the front room, and then the sound of a chair being occupied. Diamond raised her head. Had Pearl given up? She certainly hoped so.

She crept along the hall and paused, listening. The floorboards creaked noisily as a rocking chair moved across them. The only rocking chair in the house was by the front window -- just around the corner. A wry smile worked its way onto Diamond's face. If she was fast, she had Pearl just where she wanted her...

Moving quickly, Diamond leapt around the corner and lunged towards where she knew the chair to be. Her motive was to get a firm grip on one of Pearl's arms and corner her in the chair. There was no escape for the lass that way.

And all went according to plan, at first. Diamond found that, indeed, the chair was taken, and she did manage to latch onto an arm. However, the arm was quite bigger than she previously expected.

"I've got you!" she shouted, before the words died on her lips and her eyes widened. It took her a moment to realize that she had Pippin's arm in a most painful and awkward position and she dropped it, stepping back, horrified. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked. He grinned as he rubbed his arm.

"Bad timing?"

"I thought that you... I thought..." Diamond stuttered. "Where's Pearl? How did you get in?"

"Pearl let me in," Pippin said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know where she is now. She ran off. I figured that if I sat here long enough then _someone _had to find me."

If possible, Diamond's headache doubled, and added to this was newfound embarrassment. 

"The jam jar wasn't opened, if that helps," Pippin said quietly. Diamond raised her gaze to him.

"How did you...?"

"It doesn't take much to figure out," Pippin said with a warm smile. "Pearl runs off with a jam jar she's clutching just after letting me in, and seconds later I'm ambushed by you... no, it wasn't hard to figure out at all."

Diamond flushed and shook her head. "When I get my hands on her..." she muttered, and then suddenly seemed to realize that her company was still present. She glanced at Pippin. "Come into the kitchen, will you? I've just fixed some bread. Although, it appears we have a shortage on jam..."

Pippin laughed and followed Diamond back into the house. Not wanting to be rude, but her eagerness to find out his intentions overruling, before they entered the kitchen Diamond blurted: "Is there any reason you're here?"

Pippin smiled, and Diamond couldn't help but wonder if he purposely avoided her gaze. "Just dropped by to say hello, and perhaps to thank your aunt once more for the dinner she prepared last night."

"Oh," Diamond said. "Well, I'm afraid she's not here at the moment. She and my uncle and sister have gone out for the day."

"So it's just you and Pearl, then?"

A smile closer to a grimace crossed Diamond's face. "I'm afraid so. With every passing minute, she appears to make my headache double."

If Pippin was going to respond, he didn't get a chance, for as they turned into the kitchen, both were surprised into silence. Pearl sat at the table, jam opened as she was dutifully spreading some upon a piece of bread with utmost concentration. 

"Hello," she said as they entered without looking up. When Diamond said nothing and Pippin laughed again, she glanced up and proclaimed, "You were taking too long to catch me, Diamond, and I got hungry!"

"At least you've settled down," Diamond said at last as she saw no further point in arguing. She seated herself across from Pearl and snatched a piece of bread. Pippin followed her example.

"Are you staying to play with me, Pippin?" Pearl asked keenly. "Where's Merry?"

"Merry is probably heading to see Estella as we speak. And actually, I was wondering if you two would accompany me on a walk," Pippin responded straight away. 

"Ooh yes!" Pearl said at once, bouncing up and down in her seat at this new suggestion. "Yes, yes! Let's, Diamond, please?"

Diamond's gaze automatically strayed out the window and she bit her lower lip. "It looks like rain..."

"We will be back before it rains," Pippin assured her. "It won't be long. Besides," he lowered his voice so only Diamond could make out what he was saying. "Perhaps it will help Pearl to burn some of that energy of hers. And you never know; it may do wonders for your headache."

Diamond smiled. "Alright, then," she said. "We would love to."

"First," Pearl said, reaching across the table and taking Pippin's hand. "You have to come and -" she stopped mid-sentence as she slid from her seat, arm catching the jam jar and bringing it to the floor with a crash. She jumped back and squealed as she was splattered with the sticky stuff, and both Diamond and Pippin jumped in their seats. 

"Oh no," Diamond groaned, hurrying to grab some rags to clean the mess up with. Pippin, on the other hand, focused his attention on Pearl.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, voice suddenly low. Her eyes shone bright with tears and her lower lip trembled. "I never meant to break it, even when I was hiding from Diamond... it was just a game..."

"It's fine," Pippin assured her, amazed at the reaction the accident brought from Pearl. "Why don't you go wash up? You can't very well come with us while you're all sticky like that!"

Pearl nodded, and wiping her eyes across the back of her hand, she scurried from the room. Pippin took half of the damp rags Diamond returned with, and the two set to scrubbing the floor and the table and chairs and diligently picking up the shards of glass. 

"It was just an accident," Pippin commented softly, noticing that Diamond attacked the mess with unusual fierceness. 

"I know," Diamond said shortly. She sighed and paused, resting on her knees, before brushing a curl from her face. Pippin chuckled. 

"What?" she asked irritably, narrowing her eyes at him. 

"Nothing," he said, and then chuckled again. She made a noise of disgust and rubbed the bridge of her nose. This only sent him into a brief fit of irrepressible laughter. Raising her brow at him, she chose to ignore it and went back to scouring the floor, scratching her nose again. Badly suppressed chuckles met her ears after she did this.

"Pippin!" she said in outrage at last, glaring firmly at him and flinging her rag on the floor. "If you don't tell me what you're laughing at this minute, I'll..."

"It's just..." he started to explain, standing and then sinking feebly into a chair. "You had a bit of jam on your hand, and when you touched your face..."

Glowering as a small blush colored her cheeks, she snatched a clean rag and rubbed her face furiously. "There," she said, slightly abashed and expecting Pippin to snicker once more. "Have I gotten it all?"

"No," Pippin said quietly. He reached out and brushed a finger down her cheek. "There; you've missed some."

Diamond froze at his touch, gazing at him with a sort of mixed marvel and amazement. She wondered why her heart suddenly seemed wedged in her throat, and her whole body heated. For a few moments she struggled to move away and found she couldn't. 

Finally, she realized she had been staring at him quite foolishly, and hurried to wipe the jam off where Pippin had touched her. She swallowed hard. No one had _ever had that effect on her before. What exactly was it?_

"Thanks," she said softly, and the two hurried to finish cleaning the mess up.

They had only just finished when Pearl barged back into the kitchen, face tinged a raw red from where she had scrubbed it clean. "Well?" she demanded. "Can we go now?" Pippin smiled down at her, pleased to see her mood back to its normal cheeriness.

"I think we shall. Diamond?" he glanced at her, and she nodded. 

"Yes," she responded, only half listening. The other half of her was still perplexed by the sudden bout of helplessness that had overtaken her only minutes before. 

-----


End file.
